From a photograph by Solomon D. Butcher of four daughters of rancher Joseph M. Chrisman, at their sod house in Custer County, Nebraska. From left to right, Harriet, Elizabeth, Lucie, and Ruth. Photographed in 1886.

Friday, January 12, 2007

A Road Not Taken

And What I Think About It...

I was wondering today what I would be like if my life had turned out as I expected it to when I was a child.

I expected to have a life much like my mother's. I would marry a rancher who would be much like my dad, and I would do all the things that ranchwives do.

I would ride the pastures, work in the hayfield, run to town for parts, doctor sick calves, and back up the horse trailer.

I would keep the books, mend the knees in my husband's jeans, and bake cookies. I would fix big dinners for branding crews and hay gangs. I would make jelly from wild fruit.

If I had married one of those Nebraska cowboys whom I dated years ago, how much different would I be now?

Would I be interested in current events?

Would I have come to the Lutheran church?

Would I always be going on a diet?

Would I enjoy photography?

Would I enjoy writing?

Would I have more wrinkles?

Would I own a pair of boots?

The answers are yes, I hope so, probably not as often, yes, yes, probably, and definitely.

I don't think my personality and interests would be much different. I would have worked a lot harder though. I have no doubt of that.

4 comments:

Thanks for your note, Angela. I think I like the new background too, or at least I'm feeling more comfortable with it. I am not sure which store you are referring to, but I do hope you get to visit it.

I've often wondered what life for my dad would have been like had he remained in his hometown of Gordon, NE - which is not far from where you grew up. Of course if my dad hadn't relocated to Washington DC, he never would have met and married my mom, and I wouldn't be sitting here in Nashville typing this.

Although it's hard to imagine roads not taken, in my own life I've taken many of those less-traveled roads. Like Robert Frost, I believe adventure lies down those seldom-traveled paths. As I trace my own history, the most important turning points were those times when I stepped off the familiar, comfortable path and charted my own course.

IT IS STILL BEST to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasure; and to be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong.(Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1867-1957)